Re: recipe!!

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Paul Smith <address@hidden>
> Cc: Sam Ravnborg <address@hidden>, address@hidden
> Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2010 09:47:09 -0400
> 
> On Mon, 2010-09-13 at 08:46 +0200, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
> > Did you consider the possibility that this is due to Ali trying to
> > express himself in a language that isn't his first one?
> > 
> > I'm really ashamed to read such remarks on a list that is supposed to
> > help newbies, including those whose first language is not English. 
> 
> Although I wouldn't have used the terms he did, in fairness to Sam it
> seems quite clear from Ali's ability to state his frustration and
> dissatisfaction with the quality of the documentation that he's more
> than capable of expressing himself in English, regardless of whether
> it's his first language.  If he were less capable, I'd be more inclined
> to ignore the tone of his messages.

Being capable of expressing frustration does not mean he is also in
command of the nuances of the English language wrt expressing that
frustration.

> I'm not sure how far we should go to ignore recurring rudeness in these
> situations.  It's been many weeks now and a number of people have asked
> him to moderate his comments, to no avail.

I find nothing rude in his messages, except too many exclams and the
obvious dissatisfaction with the wording of the manual.

Now, I don't want to start a he-said-she-said argument about this.
I'm just asking everyone to please not forget that we are talking to a
non-native English speaker (which is obviously a major part of his
frustration with how the manual is worded).  In my experience, more
often than not the so-called "rudeness" is simply misunderstanding due
to insufficient command of English and cultural differences.  It is
best to assume you are misunderstood than that you are being offended.

> Perhaps you're right and we should just be ignoring his email completely

That's definitely not what I meant.  I meant to say that if someone is
infuriated by his messages to the degree that they don't want to
respond, they can do so silently.

I do happen to think that understanding his comments will go a long
way towards making the manual more clear and better organized.